The credit card industry has been the subject of increased antitrust scrutiny in recent years, even as consumer understanding of its inner workings remains low. But how did the American credit card system come to be, and are there changes for it on the horizon?

That’s the focus of a podcast published on July 17 that features NACS General Counsel Doug Kantor. On the American Bar Association’s “Our Curious Amalgam” podcast, he speaks about the history of credit and debit card payment systems, the swipe fees on which those systems are built and the justifications offered over the years for those fees. Listen now to Will That Be Cash or Credit? Swipe Fees and Their Critics.

Kantor also appears on the Convenience Matters podcast from NACS, including the recent episode, The Momentum Behind the Swipe Fee Fight.

Swipe fees are an enormous expense for convenience retailers. In 2022, swipe fees cost the industry $19.5 billion. Over the last three years, overall card fees paid by the convenience store industry were up 82%. For many convenience retailers, the swipe fees they pay exceed their pre-tax profits. These fees represent their second-highest operating cost—less than labor but more than rent and utilities. The recent NACS Convenience Corner blog, What’s Going On With Credit Card Swipe Fees?, provides more insights on the costs associated with swipe fees.

NACS strongly supports the Credit Card Competition Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation introduced by Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) in the Senate (S. 4674), and Reps. Lance Gooden (R-TX), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Tom Tiffany (R-WI) and Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) in the House. Both bills would require the largest U.S. banks that issue Visa or Mastercard credit cards to allow transactions to be processed over at least two unaffiliated card payment networks—the same process that has been used for debit card transactions for more than a decade.

Grassroots engagement is critical to getting movement on this legislation. Click here to learn how you can help.